The Second Glass

According to an article on CNET, researchers have found “the sensation of pleasantness that people experience when tasting wine is linked directly to its price.” Basically, people like a wine more if they think it costs more. This probably doesn’t come to much of a surprise to anyone working in a retail or restaurant setting. Wine, like all consumer goods, is perceived to increase in quality with the price. However, it’s pretty crazy that people actually enjoy a wine more when they think it costs more.

Most of us winos are guilty of playing into this. When I visited my family for Christmas a few years back, I didn’t bring home a bottle of 1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne because I knew that no one would know what it was. Instead, I brought a 1998 Dom Perignon because everyone knows the brand and they also know it costs $150 a bottle. I didn’t necessarily want to impress them with the price, but I did want them to appreciate the bottle.

The same year I brought to my family - avid wine drinkers, but not discerning ones - a number of bottles ranging between $25 and $50 a piece. I also ran out and bought some extras, because we’re from Wisconsin and we drink a lot, for around $10 a bottle. Having no information on the price or quality of the wine, my family commented and loved the $10 bottles just as much they did on $50 ones. This isn’t bad, in fact it’s GREAT, because the $10 ones were still good wines. Plus, from now on, I can spend $40 less per bottle and people are just as happy.

For this reason, I rarely bring a fancy bottle anywhere. It’s just not needed. In most situations, the wine isn’t the focus and unless you tell everyone how much you spent - soooo tacky - most people won’t realize the difference between and good $15 bottle and a good $50 bottle.